I found this interesting piece on www.upstreamwoman..com and decided to share -
Eucharia Anunobi, a beloved Nigerian celebrity was in the news recently for tragedy that affected her. The Loss of her beloved son. Her famous quote “My Son has gone to be with Jesus” resonates within me and shows the level of her anguish. Losing a loved is a tragedy no one is ever prepared for until it happens. No one can equally understand how it feels unless they have walked in the same shoes. Here are a few tips that might help you better cope with this unspeakable tragedy.
Lean heavily on support.
Find your support system and lean heavily on them. Don’t be shy about showing them your emotions. Bawl if you need to, be angry if you need to. Let it all out and trust that your support system (family, friends, or even mutual friends with the deceased) will be there for you.

Don’t be afraid to cry.
It is a known fact that crying heals and releases feelings. You don’t need to hide to cry your heart out. You just lost a significant part of yourself. You need all the release that this beautiful form of self-expression can bring you.

Don’t hesitate to speak.
Like Eucharia Anunobi, speak! By speak I mean, don’t be afraid to talk about your loved one who you just lost. Tell the beautiful stories and the ridiculous ones. These will help keep their memories alive and uplift you. Think comforting thoughts. Eucharia Anunobi let it all out when she said “I am going to miss everything about my son. Now, there would be no one that would call me to say ‘Mummy where are you? You said you would be home by 7:30 and now it is 7:45. You are 15 minutes late.” Don’t be afraid to speak.

Don’t play the blame game.
It easy to torture yourself by asking the one million what-if questions. What if I was there earlier, what if I had done this differently, and so on. But don’t do this. It’s not productive because it will make it harder for you to cope and worse- it could lead to you carrying an enormous amount of guilt around with you for the rest of your life. Your beloved is gone. Nothing can undo that. Focus on carrying on because cruel as it may sound “Life will go on”.

Work, if work helps.
If you belong in an industry where mistakes are not life-threatening, or you feel you can handle it, then work. Something having something to do gives you the chance to focus on something else and before you know it, enough time has passed and it doesn’t hurt as much anymore.

Allow time to heal.
Don’t allow yourself to feel any pressure to get better at handling the feelings. Time heals, give yourself as much time as you need. One day? One month? One year? It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that when the time is right, you will start to feel better about it. Just wait till you’re ready. Then smile!
For more interesting pieces targeted at nigerian woman audience visit www.upstreamwoman..com